The tenth phrase (lines 19-20) of the intermediate version of the Oilima Markirya poem (PE16/77). The first word is the interrogative particle ma followed by the present 3rd-singular feminine form of the verb kaya- “to lie”. The subject of the phrase is kirya “ship”, followed by the modifying adjective maita “maimed” and preceded by the clause laiqen ondolissen, the locative plural of the adjective laiqa “green” and the noun ondo “rock”.
This phrase corresponds to the lines of the English translations of the poem LA2a-LA2b (PE16/68-9): “who shall heed a dead ship/drowned boat lying on the green rocks”. It also resembles the seventeenth line in the first English translation LA1a (PE16/67): “a ship lay upon the green rocks”.
Alternate Interpretations: In their original article, Gilson, Welden and Hostetter suggested this phrase might be “What maimed ship lies upon the green rocks?” where the initial element ma was “what”. In a Discord conversation from 2023-04-23, Christopher Gilson also suggested the possibility “what lies on green rocks, a maimed ship?”, pointing out that since kirya maita falls on the next line, there could be an omitted comma.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> ma kai-re laikve-n ondo-li-ssen kirya maita = “✱does lie-she green-(plural) rock-(plural)-on ship maimed”
Alternate Interpretations: In their original article, Gilson, Welden and Hostetter suggested this phrase might be “What maimed ship lies upon the green rocks?” where the initial element ma is “what”. In a Discord conversation from 2023-04-23, Christopher Gilson also suggested the possible interpretation “what lies on green rocks, a maimed ship?”. Since kirya maita falls on the next line, there could be an omitted comma: ma kaire laikven ondolissen, kirya maita? I find Gilson’s 2023 suggestion to be quite plausible.
A noun appearing as ᴱQ. hyar (hyarm-) “a plough” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√HYAŘA [HYAÐA] “plough through” (QL/41). In the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa it appeared only as its stem form hyarm- “plough” (PME/41). Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. hyarma “a plough” (PE16/144).
Neo-Quenya: The form hyarma conflict with the later word Q. hyarma “left hand”. However, since the later root ᴹ√SYAD had a similar meaning “shear through, cleave” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/SYAD), I think ᴺQ. hyar “plough” can be salvaged for purposes of Neo-Quenya derived from a primitive form like ✱syadĕ.